Things were once again under control from Gramps'' perspective. He had secured a solid conspirator by completing a few new traits, which, in all likelihood, he would have created anyway, as once he got a new idea, he seldom would let it sit and rot.
At the same time, he devised a solution that not only solved the cascading errors caused by the slime but also allowed him to explore his domain further. Furthermore, Syl had acquired a yellow slime and was already well underway with customizing the new magic, which would be excellent bargaining potential. Yes, things were lining up perfectly like a chain of perfectly stacked dominos. Armed with a plethora of documentation and footage, he approached her.
"My my. It is an odd occasion where you''re initiating a conversation." The motherly voice said, brimming with curiosity.
"Well. Since this is your domain, I thought I''d bring this to your attention. One of my subjects has made remarkable progress that I thought would delight you." Gramps responded diplomatically.
"Really? You allowed one of your subjects access to magic? I thought you scoffed at the idea and were going to purely limit them to nothing but traits." She asked, her suspicion immediately evident.
"I nearly did," Gramps admitted. "But this one has shown remarkable creativity, so I let it slide. It''s achieved four elements, two of which are advanced, Arcane, and Corrosion magic."
She seemed genuinely surprised by this statement. "How? Show me."
Gramps held back from showing his glee at baiting the hook and started showing some of the documentation he''d gathered, revised, and thoroughly purged of errors.
"A slime did all this. Surely you jest?" She immediately objected, but Gramps remained silent to allow her to continue to read.
"Yes... I see... Core integration, I forgot we even gave them that ability. I knew about the same species reinforcing one another but had no idea they could cross-integrate like that."
Gramps remained silent, allowing her to solve the puzzle pieces he''d carefully arranged.
"And slimes have extreme mana purity. Fascinating..." She mumbled as she read.
"Started with Water... Gained Fire... Shadowcaster? Not what I would have picked... Oh yes, obviously for Corrosion. I see..."
Suddenly, she jerked upward and slammed her hand on the document. "[Permeable]!? [Flammable]!? Why does this slime have access to those? Aren''t they restricted to boss monsters or magic items?"
Gramps raised both of his hands up, trying to calm her down. "It figured them out by brute force editing the [Erode] spell."
When her face showed no sign of believing him, he presented the relevant footage. Finally, she relaxed, although she winced every time the magical backlash triggered.
"As for how or why? Well, that''s more your domain than mine. I don''t investigate magical matters." Gramps added.
As if to satisfy her own curiosity at this point, she started pulling out some of her own logs, rapidly scanning them far beyond the capabilities of mortals.
"It appears they created the effects by simply hijacking portions of the magic system." She said with a frown. "Lazy... Although I wish they''d simply told me this instead of hiding it, I would have officially registered it."
"It''s also already replicated the effects of [Frigid] and [Conductive]." Gramps pointed out.
"Spoilers..." She grumbled as she returned to reading the documentation Gramps had provided.
Then she came across the custom spells. "I''ve been wondering who was responsible for creating [Combust] and [Frostbite]... To think you were the one blocking the information." She grumbled, chewing her thumbnail.
Finally, she had read and seen enough. She leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and massaged her temples.
"Alright... You have my interest and attention. What is it you want?"
"Well, this lovable little slimeball has caused some minor system errors. I''ve gained lots of valuable data from it and don''t want to lose such a promising subject. I thought you''d sympathize after seeing its dedication to magic."
She sighed deeply; he was going straight for her weak point. "I''m assuming you''ve already got another accomplice."
"Of course. I wouldn''t waste your time otherwise."
She gave a dry chuckle. "Of course. And I''m assuming you''ve already thought of a solution to solve and prevent future errors?"
"Naturally."
She paused to think. Tapping her finger against her chin. "I want full unrestricted access to observe anything magic-related."
Gramps hated giving others access to his personal assets, but it was a reasonable request. "That can be arranged."
Without warning, two red screens appeared before Gramps. Errors, countless errors. Everything was going so well, so why could the little slime not just sit still? He immediately started to suppress the errors, but they were escalating.
"What have you done now, Syl!?" Gramps demanded as he frantically scanned the logs.
"The slime has become a half-spirit? Very, very interesting... You were holding out on me." The motherly voice murmured, now tinged with curiosity and desire. She had rapidly accessed the error logs Gramps had tried to keep hidden by cross-referencing against the slime.
"Give me a good reason why I shouldn''t flag this slime for immediate deletion. This is far beyond the acceptable amount of errors for a single individual." She demanded.
"Yes, but my solution will solve present and future errors. I just need your approval, and we can pull it into an emergency state." Gramps first defended his actions; now he just needed to try to sweeten the pot again. "As for reasons why. I admit I held back some accomplishments. Syl has also procured the Elementalist class, and if you look over here, you can see the upgraded version of the [Frigid] debuff integrating both Ice and Freeze."
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She paused and diligently looked over the extra documentation and noted that the slime had already broken through the magical safety restrictions via unexpected tutelage from a spirit.
"Very well... However, the negotiations have changed. There''s new cards upon the table."
Gramps tsked, almost glaring at her. "What do you want?"
"I want to make the slime an offer as another solution. The slime picks between mine and yours. You aren''t allowed to tell it what your solution will do."
"That hardly seems fair. At least let me say something to make my case."
"Very well. But you''ll need to run it by me beforehand. Clocks ticking. How long until the slime is deleted? Tick-tock." She mocked with a predatory smile.
Gramps grumbled, "Fine."
***
Once again, I found myself floating in the empty void. I had an overwhelming sense of dread. Perhaps I was actually a cat in my past life because it seems my curiosity is about to get me killed. I found myself seated on a familiar chair once again, and I took my elven form for conversing.
"Syl. I wish we were meeting under better circumstances. You''ve certainly been... Busy." Gramps''s voice echoed, imbued with crushing disappointment.
"I''m sorry, Gramps! I had no idea!" I pleaded.
"Gramps? You let the slime nickname you; that''s oddly cute." A new womanly voice replied. While Gramps'' voice invoked a sense of a grandfather who believed in you and you didn''t want to disappoint, this other voice gave the image of a mother who knows best.
"It seemed harmless at the time. And I find it oddly amusing." Gramps responded.
"I want one too. You''ll give me one, won''t you, Syl?" She asked.
"S-sure! Since we''ve got Gramps already, what about Grandm-" I halted midsentence. An overwhelming sense of existential dread filled the entire void. "I mean... Sorry, how about Mom? Mother? Mommy? I''m assuming you wouldn''t want to be called Aunt-"
"Mother is fine. Thank you, Syl." Mother interrupted.
Gramps was giving a hearty chortle.
"H-hey... I want a nickname..." A third voice mumbled. It sounded far younger than Gramps and lacked the confidence of the other two.
"You''re supposed to be merely observing." Mother retorted.
"I-if you get one. I want one."
"How''s Uncle? Or Unc?" I suggested.
"I like Unc! It''s more casual sounding." Unc replied, sounding joyously happy.
Gramps cleared his throat loudly, causing silence to return to the void. "Anyway, back to business. You''ve caused numerous system errors, Syl. Now, I''m partially to blame since I created the [Sub-Core] trait, but you kept pulling on the loose thread."
"Sorry... I just wanted to cast more spells at once, and it broke... I was fulfilling a promise on the second one, and I had no idea I''d get [Spirit Candidate]... The third was entirely my fault, though..." I admitted, hoping my honesty would perhaps lighten the punishment.
"Sp-spirit?!" Unc questioned.
Gramps cleared his throat again and proceeded as if ignoring Unc. "Yes. So, we will present you two options to resolve the issue. You have to pick one of them; the only other option is deletion."
"Deletion?" I asked.
"Death." Mother clarified.
I shuddered.
"So. My option is to evolve you now; it will be a forced evolution and entirely of my creation. No options or choices on your end." Gramps said.
"S-since you haven''t reached level thirty yet, there will be an experience p-penalty on you," Unc added. "Until you pay off those levels, you will be s-stuck at level one."
"That''s their option." Mother began, sliding in with perfect timing. "However, my proposal is for you to become a spirit."
I heard a spitting noise, followed by loud coughing. "What?" Gramps uttered between coughs.
"Yes. Syl, you''re already almost there, and I think you''d be a wonderful spirit. You''re already friends with one, defeated another candidate in battle, and have very pure mana. You''d fit right in." Mother continued.
"What would Syl even qualify for? There''s not a slime spirit." Gramps asked, now recovered.
"No, no. No slime. You''ve already got Ice, Water, and Lightning - you''d make a wonderful Storm Spirit. Or perhaps something more esoteric, like a Mana Spirit? That could work, too." Mother answered.
"But what about the experiment?" Gramps demanded.
"Call it a success? Follow one of the other candidates? Or consider this part two as a spirit?" Mother replied.
They continued to bicker back and forth, but I started to focus on what was offered. Did I want to become a spirit? I didn''t even think that was possible, but now it was on the table. No more pretending to be an elf, no more risk of being found out as a monster. I could join Trixie; I was pretty sure she would be delighted to show me the ropes as a spirit. It sounded exceedingly positive if I looked at it in isolation.
But what would I be giving up? No more being a slime. Did I hate being a slime? Maybe at first, but I''d long since grown into and comfortable with my slimy form. No more collecting slime cores, adventurer shenanigans, or collecting traits. I could live without the adventuring, but I''d be saying permanently goodbye to the people I knew. Although Thern was still an option, Trixie had said spirits got along with elves and dwarves. I''d also potentially lose out on Earth affinity and magic, assuming I was correct about the silver slime having that. Unless spirits could gain affinities?
"Can spirits gain affinities?" I asked.
"N-no," Unc responded. The other two were still arguing, although the contents of their argument were drowned out by a low humming noise.
"That''s not great... I was close to gaining Earth."
"That''s p-pretty good. But being a spirit is p-probably better? Although, getting a custom evolution from G-gramps is very tempting."
"I just wish I knew what it was. I somewhat know what''s on offer as a spirit, but an unknown evolution is risky. Also, the spirit option doesn''t come with the level penalty, I''m assuming?"
"N-no. Spirits don''t evolve. M-mother would probably take your current combined levels."
"Right... No further evolutions either." I muttered.
"B-but you could become a Grand Spirit! You''re already a candidate. That''s worth like two normal evolutions." Unc pointed out before quickly adding something as an afterthought, "By the way. If you ever come across a crab, p-please be nice to him."
"Sure?" I agreed, not understanding the purpose of the request but not wanting to offend the disembodied voice.
Unfortunately, as helpful as Unc was trying to be, he was just making my decision even more difficult. Eventually, the other two finally stopped and rejoined us.
"So, Syl, what do you think?" Mother asked.
"Is there nothing you can tell me about the evolution option?" I asked.
"Yes. I can say one thing about it. It will let you do what you tried to do originally." Gramps answered in a very careful manner. Despite not seeing any of them, I could swear I felt the glare in Mother''s eyes as she judged his words.
As good as Gramps words were, they made me question everything. I had tried and failed at countless different things. Was he talking about recently, in the past? Was it a beneficial thing I was trying or something bad?
Gramps has had my best in mind in the past; I vaguely recalled him mentioning that he had given me the Chimeric evolution, and Doppelganger was offered by one of the others. Surely, I could expect it to be at least on par with Chimeric, right? And at the core of everything, I still wanted to be a slime.
"Okay. I think I want to go with the evolution option."
"Are you sure?" Mother questioned. "Spirits are immortal, you know. You could live forever with your friend... Trixie."
I could''ve sworn I heard paper shuffling before she gave Trixie''s name.
"Aren''t s-slimes already immortal?" Unc asked, and the feeling of dread filled the void. Although I couldn''t see it, I could swear some dangerous glares were being directed towards Unc.
"Yes... I suppose that is true," Mother reluctantly agreed. "But as a spirit, you could directly interact with essence. Truly, you may never get this offer again."
Now, that was something I hadn''t considered. However, when thinking of interacting and using essence, the first thing that came to my mind was Aquillia sleeping and passively gaining experience. The offer almost felt like honeyed poison.
"Yes. I''m sure." I responded a little more confidently.
At the heart of it, I still wanted to be a slime. Perhaps I was giving up the opportunity of a lifetime, but I''d be abandoning all my goals and slimy ambitions. I wanted to eat one of every slime core at a minimum!
There was a very loud sigh. "Very well. I still expect full access to the magic-related logs and feeds.
"Of course," Gramps responded. I swear I could feel great pride and joy radiating in his words.
Finally, the sense of dread left the void. Now, I just needed to hopefully get some answers before being ejected again, like Gramps seemed to love to do.